The Financial Value of Archives Part 1 - by Mike Rosenberg

Hello everyone! Archives, the exciting all-foil reprint set for the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, is making its way to stores. Warcraft Gaming Center, Run Good Club's official sponsor, now has them for sale, and wow! This set has some serious power in it...but that should be obvious! It reprints some of the best or most iconic cards from the last four years of the WoW TCG.

This will be an ongoing article series with each big set and boutique product release. It is a tribute to Ben Bleiweiss and his 'Financial Value' articles for each new Magic: The Gathering set over at Star City Games. In fact, I love the formatting for his articles so much, that I'm basically just going to copy it! Thanks dude! :P (if you haven't read one of his articles on finances for Magic, do yourself a favor and check it out. Even if you don't follow Magic, his discussion on why he feels cards can go up or down is interesting, especially given his track-record of almost always being exact, even if it means selling rares and mythics on the site he works for at ridiculously low values despite his expectations of cards)

We've got a big month coming up, with the release of Archives and Icecrown being so close together!

Archives features a huge list of power-cards in the rare and epic slots, and not only prints some of the big format staples in a foil format, but there are plenty of extended art foil cards too! These extended art cards do not count towards the 190-card set size, and are an additional bonus. I cannot confirm this, but it appears the EA cards are found 1 in 3 packs (if someone can verify this, I'd appreciate it). These extended-art foils will make some of the commons and uncommons of the set highly sought after for collectors as well as players looking to make their decks look awesome.

A word on the rares and epics: These cards will definitely retain value given that this set is only available for a limited time and because they are premium version of already popular cards. However, it would not surprise me to see some of the regular versions of these cards deplete in value as a result of Archives. This is especially true for the flavorful rares and epics that have held nostalgia value with players. Cards like Exarch Onaala and Varimathras have not seen competitive play for well over a year, so expect the regular versions of these cards to drop in value as collectors and lore-lovers flock to the new foiled out forms of these popular MMO-based allies.

That being said, sealed product for Archives will most likely sell out fast. In terms of sheer value, even at the full retail price per pack, sealed Archives is still a steal and has so many key constructed-viable cards that it's hard not to get your money's worth, or far more than what you paid for your sealed product, if you open them. Holding onto sealed product may even be a sweet idea for the big tournaments and conventions, as I am sure some of the big players would love any opportunity to try Archives product in a booster draft.

The format for these reviews will typically be the same. I'll go through a rarity, and then go through each card alphabetically. I will list its current price, as of the time of writing this article (8/27/2010), from Warcraft Gaming Center. I will then speculate on whether the price tag is going to go up or down, along with an explanation as to why I feel its price will change (or remain the same). This will also be broken up into two articles. The first one will detail all of the epics in the set, and the second one will cover the rares as well as a general look at commons and uncommons from Archives.

With that said, on to the speculation!

EPICS:

A'dal:

Current price: $4.50 (regular) $8.90 (EA)

Speculation: Down/Stable

A'dal is one of the epics getting the EA foil treatment in this set. It also hasn't seen serious play since NACC 2008, and has held whatever value it has had on nostalgia as well as lore value. The regular version will most likely go down to bulk value in time, and I expect the regular foil A'dal to fall to the regular version's current price at around $2. However, as the EA foil A'dal will be much harder to get, I feel that it will hold most of its listed value. It runs the risk of losing a dollar or two simply because the card is no longer that exciting, but it's still a key character from the online game in its hardest-to-get premium form.

Azaloth

Current Price: $9.65

Speculation: Stable

A constant player for combo-oriented gamers, and generally just being an awesome flavor ally, Azaloth held some value with its regular version for some time.

Then people discovered that Rip and Flip was really awesome for core format, even placing a player (Matt Walsh) in the top 8 of NACC 2010. Its price went up with the announcement of Core Constructed, and it has been a hard-to-get epic ever since. Azaloth, because of his playability in Core currently, will probably not lose any value for a few months. Once March of the Legion block rotates, the regular version will most likely settle down, but because it's still a hard-to-get epic in a deck-type many players enjoy playing, I doubt that the foil Azaloth's price will budge even after it is regulated to Classic play only.

Doomwalker

Current Price: $3.50 regular/$3.90 EA

Speculation: down/stable

Doomwalker is the same as A'dal. The regular version will go to bulk mythic pricing, the foil version will take the regular version's current price in time, and the EA version will most likely hold onto its value for flavor-reasons.

Lady Katrana Prestor:

Current Price: $3.50

Speculation: Stable

Regular will go down to bulk price, the new foil variant will retain its value. I mean...come on! It lets you become Onyxia! How cool is that?!

Lady Vashj

Current Price: $12.75 regular/$16.50 EA

Speculation: Stable/Up

Lady Vashj, even once Illidan Stormrage is rotated out of Core Constructed, will most likely remain in the side decks of Classic players as one of the best threats you can drop into play with Illidan's power. When getting multiple copies of Lady Vashj was a necessity due to the Core format changes, she quickly spiked in value and has since then settled back down. The new foil variant will retain its value, while pushing the regular Lady Vashj down, but I feel the EA foil will go up in value with time. As a card that will most likely only be a one or two-of in side decks, I can imagine a lot of players that will want her are going to want the coolest looking version of Lady Vashj, and you can't get better than an EA foil.

Leeroy Jenkins:

Current Price: $13.50 regular/$24.50 EA

Speculation: Stable

This guy is way past his prime in constructed tournaments, but he's by far one of the most recognizable characters from the Heroes of Azeroth booster set, has some of the most popular artwork in the game thanks to Gabe from Penny Arcade, and holds a ton of nostalgia value for players from back in the day. The regular version of this card will most likely even retain its value, alongside the foil version. The EA I suspect will remain stable at $25, although there is a possibility that it will go up or down a few bucks, depending on how rare the EA foil epics turn out to be.

Maiev Shadowsong:

Current Price: $3.50 regular/$11.50 EA

Speculation: Down

New Maiev will take the price of the regular Maiev. The regular Maiev will become bulk epic. The EA will retain because of collectors wanting the coolest variant.

Spirit Healer:

Current Price: $3.25

Speculation: Down

Not even an interesting card these days. Both versions will reach bulk prices.

Stronghold Gauntlets:

Current Price: $18.25

Speculation: Stable

Stronghold Gauntlets has always been the standard for what armor is supposed to do for a weapon-based deck. While Bonefist Gauntlets has all but pushed it out of the realms of playability, it is still an effect that players can desire, and one that players who want their weapons to stay in play will always go to. This fact will hold the regular version and the foil version at their current prices.

Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Wind-Seeker

Current Price: $7.50

Speculation: Stable/Down

Thunderfury, unlike Spirit Healer, has some flavor and some more significant tournament history (it was part of the winning U.S. National Champion Brad Watson's deck back in 2007). Also unlike Spirit Healer, this card is iconic to collectors and online players. Like Spirit Healer, it is far too expensive to ever see serious constructed play, having been overshadowed by Betrayer of Humanity and Jin'rohk, The Great Apocalypse. Regular version will go down. The foil version may hold its value, but I expect it to fall down to $5 in time.

The Bringer of Death

Current Price: 11.50 regular/$18.50 EA

Speculation: Stable

Even past its prime, this iconic first global sweeper from the Trading Card Game still features an effect that Warlocks and Priests can desire, even in Classic. You just can't get something like this on any other card for Priests especially, and there's no question how painful this can be against a Warrior. Even if it hasn't seen successful tournament play for a while, it's an effect players want and I am sure casual and Battlegrounds play will help the classic first sweeper retain its value. All versions, including the regular, will continue to hold value over the next few months.

The Lich King

Current Price: $30.00

Speculation: Up

Yes, I am aware that I don't know what the Scourge Heroes do yet. I also don't know why I would want my allies to also be Scouge.

However, at the same cost as Illidan, you get one less ATK, 5 more health, and an absurd effect even if it's only working with your graveyard. Just imagine this guy against decks that plan to play Dethvirs/King Variants/Weldons/etc! The Lich King is going to be the glue that makes Death Knights and Scourge Heroes playable, should the new heroes be relevant to the constructed formats.

On top of that, he's one of the most iconic characters from the Warcraft universe, and this is a foil variant from a short-print set. People who want to play on a budget will do best to wait until his official Icecrown release. Players who just want to own one of the coolest Master Heroes to date will be picking this bad boy up, and if you want this guy in his blinged out form, I'd recommend getting him now rather than later. Ron reported that within 24 hours, he was already selling the new Master Hero at $30.00, so I don't doubt that the price-tag may hit $40.00 by the end of the year. This one is easily the money card of Archives.

Varimathras

Current Price: $9.90 regular/$17.90 EA

Speculation: Down

Time hasn't been good on this once iconic Horde champion. In the TCG, Varimathras has gone from being one of the best Horde big-drops to play to practically unplayable in comparison to Master Heroes. In the online game, he's gone from a Horde champion to yet another villain, who we've yet to see since the Wrathgate event in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. I'm frankly amazed it has held any value with its regular version, but I don't expect these to do the same. Expect a few dollars down for all versions.

That's it for now, everyone! Check back Monday where I'll look at the rest of Archives, right before its street date of August 30^th!